Paulette Whitton discusses the service of men in her family including her Uncle William George Chapman (Bill) who served in World War 2. Paulette explains that her uncle Bill didn’t openly discuss his war service, and she has an impression that his enlistment was motivated as much by a need for employment as anything else. Paulette is also aware of stories of white soldiers standing up for ex-service family members if they had been refused service in pubs for example.

This interview took place on 19 March 2014 in Sydney and was conducted by Professor John Maynard as part of the Australian Research Council-funded research project Serving our Country: a history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the defence of Australia.

The interview recording above is made available to be listened to here by permission of the interviewee(s), Paulette Whitton. The recording may not be copied, reproduced or communicated in whole or in part without the prior permission of the interviewee(s). Requests for permission for use of this material should be made to the Serving our Country research project: our contact details.

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